For more than fifty years Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White has been giving back to the city that allowed him the opportunity to be who he is today.
A life-long passion for athletics and service merged when the Chicago Park District asked Jesse White to put on a one-time gymnastic performance which would spawn a community service venture that would serve thousands of Chicagoland area youth. From this established the Jesse White Tumblers, an extra curricular gymnastic team that would teach detrimental values such as hard work, determination, and commitment through Jesse's "tough love" approach to coaching.

Over the years the Jesse White Tumblers have thrilled audiences around the world and given thousands of children a gateway to something better.

We at Magnani Continuum Marketing were assigned the task of creating a fresh look for the Tumblers to give their brand the same energy as the show. Many hours were spent at computers and in sketch pads whittling away at our concepts, trying to capture the look and feel of the Tumblers. From abstract shapes and icons to the Chicago skyline and wordmarks, we landed on what is now their current logo, an abstracted image of a tumbler in flight which also takes on similarities of a bird. Let the metaphors commence.

Jesse White Tumblers, Foundation and 50th Anniversary Logos

From there, we established a logo for the Jesse White Foundation and 50th anniversary mark.

On Tuesday, February 23rd, Jesse White was honored at the United Center in Chicago for his fifty years of continuous effort with the Tumblers and the Jesse White Foundation. Magnani Continuum Marketing developed a wide variety of materials for this fundraising event from invitations and save the dates to promotional bags and program books, all designed in the new look and feel we developed just for them.

Jesse White Tumblers Fundraiser

From first entering the United Center floor, it was more than apparent that the Jesse White Tumblers were proud of their new look and tagline and were using it everywhere they could. The logo was on glasses, napkins and the overhead scoreboard. The tagline "50 Years of Helping Kids Soar to New Heights" scrolled around the perimeter of the United Center via LCD screens.

Jesse White and Magnani Continuum Marketing

The night started with a cocktail hour and opportunities to take photos with Jesse White himself, those representing Magnani Continuum Marketing jumped right in.

Jesse White Tumblers Fundraiser

Jesse White Tumblers Fundraiser

Jesse White Tumblers Fundraiser

President Barack Obama sent a video message to Jesse White thanking him for his many years of work for the community and to congratulate him on all of his efforts.

Everything from beginning to end with the Jesse White Foundation was a complete success. It was a great experience for everyone who participated and people on both sides of the work were more than pleased.

As I was listening to Jesse personally thank everyone for their support and cooperation, it felt good to know that we were able to be part of something good. I can only speak for myself but its enjoyable to help out those around you, most of the time the hard part is figuring out how to do so. In our every day lives its easy for a day to seamlessly roll into the next, our heads so deep in the sand that we become oblivious to the world around us when its not being back lit by a computer screen or posted on Twitter. The trick is to find something you enjoy, something you're good at and use those skills to help someone who is trying to make a difference, you might find it to be a lot more rewarding than catching up on the episode of "Generic Hospital Drama" you missed last week.